I walked into Rainbow Grocery yesterday, and there waiting for me in the produce section were the season's first heirloom tomatoes! I LOVE heirloom tomatoes! Here's me about to bite into my favorite thing to do with good heirloom tomatoes: tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella bruschetta. Here's how to make it: Thinly slice a loaf of good, crusty bread. Toast in the oven at about 450 degrees. While it's toasting, prepare the toppings: thinly slice tomatoes--maybe three medium--and put on a plate. Sliver fresh basil and put in a small bowl. Slice fresh mozzarella (the kind that comes in a tub packed in water) and put in a bowl. Put all that on the table, along with a pepper grinder and good salt. When the toasts are done, rub one or both sides with a garlic clove half, then brush with good olive oil. At the table, let everyone pile on their own toppings, but don't let the 8 year old son eat all the mozzarella!
Don't skimp on good, fresh, quality ingredients, because that's what really sings out in this dish. And by the way, Hibi, who's a vegan, enjoys this as much as the rest of us, either without cheese or with soy cheese. We enjoy these while camping a lot, as it's easy to toast bread over a campfire or on a camp stove.
2 comments:
Have you tried Brandywines yet? They are the ONLY tomato that I will grow right now. Great Heirlooms!
Do they grow well for you out in Utah? I became an heirloom tomato purist back in Dunlap, when I could grow tomatoes, but they didn't do great. I understood why lots of farmers don't do heirlooms--because they're hard to grow. And here, of course, tomatoes won't grow. On our side of town it's too cold and foggy in the summer. People don't believe me when I say it's cold in the summer in San Francisco--but we live in the fog belt. And yeah, I just checked the weather for yesterday, and the high was 63. Yes, that's fahrenheight.
Brandywines and those little dark tomatoes are my favorite tomatoes. The yellow ones are pretty, but I don't think they have much flavor. I like the orange ones--they seem to have flavor plus have the beauty of the yellow ones.
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